On Not Belonging

Being a minority means even little children can tell you what you are in a way that makes you wish otherwise. Whether white, black, latino or asian, there are words that people of other races use for us when they don't like us. It is only through the virtue of having belonged to a majority that I have been able to take pleasure in the words various people might choose to call me, for better or worse.
Now that I am so completely outnumbered, it is much harder to ignore how someone means it when they call me a gringo.

At first you try to remain high-minded, constantly reminding yourself that those who call you gringo, nigger, gook don't know you and thus are powerless to judge you. But eventually you realize that the implication of this belief is that you must be so different from the rest of your kind as to be above judgment. "Oh, not I," says you, "I too hate gringos too." But is this any excuse? And are you really that different?

We all like to think we've been misrepresented by the rest of our race, that the stereotypes people have for us are never true of us. But a stereotype exists not because every example proves it, but rather because there aren't enough counterexamples to disprove it. One of the stereotypes I fail to disprove is that of the aloof gringo. Someone from Guatemala would be correct to assume that I will most likely ignore them if I meet them on the street. This is because of a stereotype I have for Guatemalans, namely that when they try to get your attention it is because they want something from you. This stems from a stereotype they have that, as a gringo I have lots of disposable income which I have come to Guatemala with the intention of spending.

I suppose I should want to crusade against the stereotypes and put an end to such negative interactions. But it's evident that plenty of people here would much rather see me go home.